I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of gun violence. I worked with Brady and local anti-gun groups after Newtown.

Gun violence and arguments in favor of "the right to bear arms" are contributing mightily to a culture of self indulgence in this country. If we can tolerate/justify mass shootings, increased suicides, the message is anything goes in the realm of individual rights. My brother was one of the suicide by gun victims so its personal but it is also political. I prefer to live in a country that acts to preserve community, serves the populace as a whole as best it can. Get it safe. Enact strict gun control now.

I was born and raised in a gun-owning, hunting family in Sheridan, WY. There are too many in this country who have easy access to weapons that have nothing to do with responsible gun ownership or hunting. Would you please represent Americans, not gun manufacturers?

My husband and a lot of my friends work at the local state college. I don't want to be receiving meaningless "thoughts & prayers" should anyone choose to shoot up their workplace also. I'd like the greatest possible protections in place for such innocent victims, and I don't think a national security state such as we've become since 9/11 should have qualms about doing that for its own citizens.

As a public school teacher, I have seen the effect of gun violence on children; their fear and worry during lockdown drills, their frantic questions about what they should do if a shooter should come to our school. My 4th graders begged me to keep a baseball bat next to the door so I could hit him, should he enter our room. Is this what we want for our children?

Ben Carson says Kindergarten teachers should be armed. It would be funny if he wasn't serious, and if our children weren't being gunned down in an epidemic of violence that has led to 15 school shootings in the last 3 months alone. As the father of a first grader, I'm sickened by this. Politicians like Ben Carson kowtow to the NRA while our kids have to do drills in school where they practice hiding in closets. This is madness. There are actual steps that would help: effective background checks, commonsense safeguards around gun sales, better mental health care, etc. More guns in schools is decidedly not the answer. Dr. Carson is a GOP front-runner and his words matter. He should apologize, withdraw his proposal, and start talking about actual solutions. Or at least be quiet.

Enough is enough. We will not start to see reductions in levels of gun violence until Congress begins to truly lead on this subject and stands up to the overly influential "gun lobby". No more.

I am saddened by the loss of innocent lives. We are a civilized country and yet we have more homicides with firearms than most of all countries. Domestic violence using a firearm causes irreversible damage whereas domestic violence without a firearm can be approached with effective counselling .Mass shootings are almost unheard of in other countries! Let's stand up and say we have had enough deaths already.

I am an American. This country has the highest incidence of gun violence of any not engaged in active war. I feel it is my patriotic duty to support focus on an issue which causes the deaths of more Americans, including children, than all American war deaths combined.

I was moved by President Obama's speech in response to the most recent mass shooting at a community college in Oregon. He had a direct answer for each and every protest made by those who oppose gun control, and his plea for action to be taken struck me as powerful and urgent. The majority of Americans, including many Texans, agree that our laws need to change. We have nothing to lose and so, so much to gain.

We have long been concerned about the increase of mass shootings in our country since the 2005 Congressional action that no longer holds gun manufacturers responsible. This must change!

My brother committed suicide with a gun, which he obtained easily in spite of his criminal record. I also have two cousins, sisters, who were murdered by one of their former boyfriends. He, too, had a criminal record, and also obtained a gun with no trouble. I also have friends and neighbors who have lost loved ones because of gun violence. This problem is way too common and it has to stop. No one is safe any more.